Post by cjm on Aug 1, 2015 18:08:24 GMT

In fact, everything can be traced to 1994 (or is it 1652?)

The Grahamstown Festival, a worldwide phenomenon which celebrates its 41st birthday this year, is as good as it ever needs to be but the same cannot be said for the badly maintained town of Grahamstown and the performance of the Makana Municipality. By NIKI MOORE.

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The actual town of Grahamstown during the festival – that annual showcase that attracts many thousands, and a swathe of international media coverage – was a dump. There were piles of litter in every nook and cranny, there were heaps of uncollected refuse on street corners, there were dead animals in culverts, there were holes bubbling water from burst mains pipes, there were crumbling pavements, potholes, faded street signs, rubbed-out street markings and boarded-up, derelict-looking buildings.

More importantly, the city fathers did nothing to promote Grahamstown during the festival, or piggyback on the event to empower its citizens. There were no city tours, no tourist souvenirs, no guided walks: no attempt whatsoever to leverage the platform of the festival to spin off some advantage and attract festival-goers to venture outside the event’s confines. There was only a criticism that the festival did very little for the citizens of Grahamstown. As if an injection of R90-million of direct tourist spend into the city’s coffers, somehow, did not count. It seems the Makana Municipality wants the festival, in 11 days, to fix all the devastation it diligently works to create during the other 354. Now, THAT would be pretty amazing.

But Grahamstown was not always like this. The current rot can be traced back to 2011, when Zamuxolo Peter became mayor. It has been hinted that the reason he got the job in the first place, and why he occupied it immovably until recently, was “political interference”. Still, it is puzzling that a man can get a job for which he so is clearly and disastrously unsuited. But then again, this is South Africa.